October 20, 2006 The Smoky Mountains

The Smoky Mountain couldn't have been more scenic or colorful.

We had a wonderful time breaking in the car and the bus. The weather cooperated much of the time, and even though it was cold we put down the top and turned on the heater! We had a great time. To view more photos of our trip through the mountains click here.

October 20, 2006 - Toilets & Saran Wrap

Our Bus comes with the newest technology, of all things, an electronic flushing toilet. Of course our toilet would malfunction on day 2 of our first excursion. Nothing we attempted would make it stop flushing. We were hooked up to a water supply, so our first concern was flooding our holding tanks. Joe immediately went outside and turned off the water, but that didn't solve our problem. The toilet continued to flush! On and on it went. We searched for a water shut-off valve, nothing doing - it doesn't have one. We wiggled and pushed, and pulled everything that would move, and still it wouldn't stop. We scratched our head and frantically called the service department at the RV dealership. In what seemed like an eternity, they finally suggested we pull the fuse. After a little searching, we located it and voila - it worked - the flushing stopped. Unfortunately for us, the toilet valve was stuck in the open position. We could use it, and we could pour water into it by hand, but the valve in the open position allowed all kinds of undesirable odors to enter the coach! We flushed the holding tank hoping it would remedy the situation until the matter could be resolved - but it did not!

Nancy, in her infinite wisdom was brainstorming for a solution as she contemplated throwing up from the odor. Then a brilliant idea surfaced - Saran Wrap! If it could control onion odors in the fridge, surely it could work on a toilet. As fate would have it, Nancy fetched her handy roll and went to work. As she leaned over her modern, electronic "damned" commode with Saran in hand to measure just how much she'd need - her glasses suddenly dropped off her face. As the glasses circled the bowl, Nancy's bright idea and her glasses went kerplunk! Straight into the holding tank. Joe was not pleased. (Helpful hint, Saran wrap can control Toilet odor - but remember to remove eyeglasses glasses prior to application.) Long story short, we had the toilet replaced when we got to Texas. After a week on the road, the glasses were flushed from the holding tank and fell from the sewer clean-out hose during our trip to North Carolina. At least we didn't have to have the tank removed!

October 19, 2006 - Just Glad to Be Alive!

We're off! We decided that we'd had enough of Indiana - and that perhaps a change of scenery would improve our experience so far with the Bus. We selected a campground in Tuckaseegee, NC that looked charming and calming, so we were on our way.

Joe phoned ahead to secure a reservation. During the process he explained that we were on our Maiden voyage, that we are in a 40' Bus, with a tow vehicle. Could they accommodate us? The Manager at Singing Waters assured us there would be no problem and encouraged us to COME ON! (without hesitation.)

As we travel through Kentucky and Tennessee, we wind through the Smoky Mountains, excitedly anticipating our arrival. We are very tired and completely stressed-out. So far we're not having fun. We need some time to sort through things and figure out how the bus works.

As we near our destination the roads become steeper, and we begin to encounter hairpin curves. We nearly clip mirrors with rock haulers and the roads become more narrow with rocky cliffs jetting out over the roadway. We're now very concerned that we've made a wrong turn, but our trusty navigation system ensures we're on the right track.

As we grow ever more concerned about our safety we make our final turn onto the road to the campground. It is as narrow, or even more narrow, than Mother's drive - only it isn't as nice. Limbs from trees slap the sides and drag the top of the bus. We are absolutely sure we've made a wrong turn, but there is no stopping now. As we proceed up the side of the Mountain, Joe is swearing with every curve in the road. Nancy is bawling and screeching at him "You're too close to the side of the road!" She has a white-nuckle death grip on the door handle as she peers over the side of the mountain into the treetops just to her right. Heaven help us if we meet another vehicle because there isn't even room for us, let alone anyone else coming down the mountain.

I am not sure how we made it to the top, but sure enough - a sign appears - Singing Waters. Joe stopped the bus, and we looked at each other amazed that we were still alive. I required Valium (2 to be exact) and continued to sob.

I was so proud of Joe, he patted me on the shoulder and told me we were OK and we'd get out of this somehow, even if we had to hire someone to drive us down the mountain.

After much deliberation with the management, we decided it was best we leave the mountain top immediately as sever weather was on its way and we didn't want to be stuck up there - and they didn't even have a site large enough for our rig anyway! After surveying the campground, Joe and the manager decided we should go for it. The guy would lead the way down the mountain in his truck and we could follow. Of course as our luck would have it - we encountered an elderly woman in a older model car head-on. The Campground manager motioned for her to back up, but she didn't budge. He had to get out of his truck, and after a short conversation, climbed into her car and backed it all the way down the mountain to the main highway. He then jogged back up to finish guiding us down. Of course we enter onto the highway just beyone a blind curve. We held our breath and went for it.

We drove in silence for a while, then finally - a four lane highway - miracles do happen!

We had no idea where we were going, we were just glad to be alive! To view some photos of Singing Waters Campground in Tuckaseegee, NC click here.

October 15, 2006 - Heather, Mike and the Boys

Justin and Peyton were excited to help us break in the bus. Of course they spent the night with us when they weren't at school. They were busy exploring all the neat storage and of course, the light switches. They are so cute!

To check out the photos from their visit click here.

October 8, 2006 - First Campground

Our first campground experience was great. Natural Springs is located in New Paris, Ohio, just a couple of miles from Best Buy RV, the dealership where we bought the bus.

The ground at Natural Springs were well manicured and pull-through sites were large and easy to negotiate. This is a popular park and lots of folks spend summers there with their families. Almost every site was elaborately decorated for Halloween and the Park had lots of events planned with a Halloween theme.

The weather, unfortunately, didn't cooperate. It turned extremely cold and windy. We awakened to ice on the windshield and slide-outs.

Since we'd just taken delivery of the Bus, we had no supplies. Our first sight seeing trip was visiting the local WalMart for cheap pots, pans, paper plates and groceries enough to get us back to Texas!

October 7, 2006 - The Close Call

Our first driving experience included taking the bus to Nancy's mother's home. During the summer we installed a 50 amp service there so we could hook-up to electricity and still be close to the boys and her mom.

Joan (mom) has a long, curved, paved driveway with a rather large landing behind the house. We calculated the length of the bus, and figured we would be able to get it "down back" and negotiate turning it around. What we failed to factor in were height restrictions and Mom's numerous trees, with limbs extending over the drive.

We left the dealership with car in tow. We were so proud and certainly were not anticipating any problems.

As we entered the drive, negotiating limbs and curves, we heard a strange dragging sound on top of the bus. Good Grief, we nearly pulled the entire electric service out of the house. We barely cleared the power lines that were dragging across the top of the bus! Joe hit the brakes and we stopped dead in our tracks as we pondered our next move.

After surveying the lay of the land, we decided not to pursue taking the bus any further. We let the bus sit in the middle of the drive, ensuring no one would be able to get in or out.

We had to wonder if this was a sign of things to come.

We soon located a campground in New Paris and ended up having to back the bus out of Mother's drive, onto a two-lane state highway.

Mom stood in the middle of the highway to stop traffic in one direction while Nancy held it up from the other - then Joe punched it! It wasn't pretty, but we were lucky there was no traffic during this exercise.

We're working on a different solution for next summer in Indiana.

October 6, 2006 - The Delivery

The Bus is here!

Aaaaahhhh delivery!

We purchased the Bus from a dealership in Indiana because we thought we would be spending more time there in retirement than in Texas. Nancy's mom, Joan, her daughter and son-in-law, Heather and Mike, and our grandsons, Justin and Peyton also live there.

Bruce "Opie" Hampton, our instructor at Best Buy RV, was a pleasant young fellow who guided us through the indoctrination process. He explained everything bell and whistle our rig had to offer. He was entertaining and patient (he had to be, he was teaching us!) He guided us from the engine to the air brakes, from gauges and buzzers and beepers to tires and storage bins. From TVs to surround sound, the generator to inverters, air conditioning and heating, to fresh water, gray water, black water, microwaves, and on - and on - and on - and on.

By the end of the day we were completely numb and couldn't even remember our own names. Bruce tossed us the keys to the Bus. He wanted us to get the bus and our behinds off the Lot!

It's now ours - you can only imagine our HORROR! We felt like new parents taking their baby home from the hospital for the first time. You want me to do what??? We tossed the keys back to Bruce and insisted he keep the bus another night. We desperately needed to go through school again. We didn't /couldn't remember anything he'd told us, so we repeated class again the next day. Let me just add - day two wasn't a lot better than day one. . . .